09/20/18

Obituary Aretha Franklin A deeper love

Aretha Franklin, soul singer, died on August 16th, aged 76 At points in her concerts, which enthralled America for 50 years, Aretha Franklin would fling her arms out wide.

Sometimes it was to shrug her strong shoulders out of some satiny or feathery dress, or to throw away her long fur coat, like any diva (though she was the ultimate diva) who by the end of her career had won 18 Grammys and sold 75m records.

Sometimes it was to embrace America, all colours, as when she sang Precious Lord at Martin Luther King's funeral, or gave her rapturous version of My Country'tis of Thee in a big-bow-statement hat at Barack Obama's inauguration.

Or possibly those arms just demonstrated how her voice, the whispering or crying height of it and drop-jaw depth of it, seemed to pass any limit that people might imagine. Open arms suggested love, but more often Everywoman's frustration, black or white.

For every super-sharp man she daydreamed of, Turns me right on when I hear him say/Hey baby let's get away, there would be ten who let her down: You're a no-good heartbreaker/You're a liar and you're a cheat/And I don't know why/I let you do these things to me.

They messed with her mind, as she fumed in the Blues Brothers film in 1980, pummelling her palms into her big man's stupid chest: Just think/Think about what you're tryin'to do to me. After all, it don't take too much high IQs.

Men in general didn't begin to give her what she wanted, just a little respect when you get home… R-E-S-P-E-C-T/Find out what it means to me.

This, her most famous song, wasn't just about a put-down woman and a do-wrong man; it became the anthem of every liberation movement because of her roof-raising style.

It was her personal anthem, too. She wished to be called Ms Franklin, to be paid cash and to be spared air-conditioning. All I'm askin', honey.